A metropolitan municipality is a type of municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 established in some countries to serve a metropolitan area

Metropolitan area

The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...

.

Canada

In generic terms, and in practical application within Canada, a metropolitan municipality is an urban local government; or at least a suburban government flanked by urban and/or other suburban counties. Conversely, a rural area (or a suburban area flanked mostly by rural areas) in which county and municipal functions are consolidated in one government is not a metropolitan municipality but a regional municipality

Regional municipality

A regional municipality is a type of Canadian municipal government similar to and at the same municipal government level as a county, although the specific structure and servicing responsibilities may vary from place to place...

.

The most typical distinction, in historical terms, is that a metropolitan municipality is usually a consolidation of one urban city and the county in which it is located. A regional municipality, by contrast, is usually a consolidation of two or more suburban and/or rural cities, towns or villages - each of which remains a geographically distinct area, usually because of greenspace between them - and the county in which they are located.

European Union

• Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona
  Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona
  The Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona , often referred to as Greater Barcelona, is administrative area integrated by three territorial executive bodies. As a whole they serve 36 municipalities and a population of 3,218,071 within an area of 636 km2...
  
  
• Brussels-Capital Region
• Metropolitan Association of Upper Silesia
• Greater Manchester
  Greater Manchester
  Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
  
  
• Greater London
  Greater London
  Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
  
  
• Metropolitan Stockholm
• South Yorkshire
  South Yorkshire
  South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
  
  
• Tricity
• Grande Área Metropolitana
  Grande Área Metropolitana
  A Greater Metropolitan Area is a type of administrative division in Portugal. Each one consists of at least nine municipalities and has at least 350,000 inhabitants...
  
  

See also

• Amalgamation (politics)
  Amalgamation (politics)
  A merger or amalgamation in a political or administrative sense is the combination of two or more political or administrative entities such as municipalities , counties, districts, etc. into a single entity. This term is used when the process occurs within a sovereign entity...
  
  
• Metropolitan county
  Metropolitan county
  The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, typically with populations of 1.2 to 2.8 million...
  
  
• Metropolitan borough
  Metropolitan borough
  A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...
  
  
• Sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China